The present disclosure generally relates to a messaging-oriented middleware system and, more particularly, to establishing a chain of trust for secure connections between component programs of the messaging system and a client application.
Messaging-oriented middleware systems (also referred to herein as “messaging systems”) facilitate communication between client applications distributed across diverse operating environments. For example, a messaging system enables communication between client applications executed by different servers with different operating systems. The messaging system includes different component programs on a messaging server as well as a client device. Establishing a chain of trust between these programs is difficult because many of these programs are started automatically without direct intervention by a user. When a user starts a program, the user may establish a chain of trust using a user name and password that can be verified through a system such as lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP). However, programs started automatically cannot request a password from a user. This problem occurs both when a client device establishes a connection with the messaging system and when the messaging system instantiates a component program. Overall, password-based systems are inadequate for authenticating automatically initiated programs in a messaging-oriented middleware system.